'Difficult' and 'challenging': West Milford brush fire spreads to 720 acres

WEST MILFORD — Efforts to extinguish the area’s largest forest fire in over a decade continued Thursday as firefighters spent a second day battling the blaze off Route 23. Progress has been made toward containing it.

Smoke clouded the air as fire officials addressed reporters at a picnic area on Route 23 north Thursday morning, detailing their efforts to put out what has been billed as the Kanouse Wildfire. The press conference was in front of a stretch of woods that had been on fire since Wednesday, an area that responders described as mountainous and treacherous for their efforts.

At a second press conference later that day, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said 40% of the fire was contained. But late Thursday night, the blaze had spread across 720 acres, 35% of which was contained, according to an alert the service tweeted at 11 p.m.

By that time, the situation has worsened, with 10 buildings in the fire's increasing path and five structure evacuated.

Investigators continued to work on identifying what ignited the initial flare-up.

"We did fly over this fire to get an assessment of where things were burning and what was going on," said Greg McLaughlin, chief of NJFFS, at the morning briefing. "Right now we do have high confidence that the work that we're doing ... is working well."

As of Thursday morning, there were about 35 firefighters working the blaze and the fire service had brought in a tanker capable of dropping 800 gallons of water.

No one has been injured as a result of the Kanouse fire and no structures are threatened, McLaughlin said. Route 23, which was closed Wednesday because of hazardous smoke conditions, has been reopened. Echo Lake Road remains closed, as firefighters are using it to access the fire. By late Thursday night, Macapin Road was also closed.

McLaughlin said the plan Thursday was to continue to burn out fuel and vegetation in front of the fire with the goal of diminishing the fire and keeping it behind control lines.

The Kanouse Wildfire is one of multiple wildfires that have ravaged New Jersey up and down the state. McLaughlin said the two-day fire in Manchester Township in Ocean County has finally been completely contained after it burned 3,859 acres on Tuesday and Wednesday. All residents who had been evacuated are now back in their homes.

State Department of Environmental Protection Assistant Commissioner John Cecil explained some of the differences in the fires that have affected New Jersey. He said the fire down south was in an area where, due to its flat landscape, it was easier to bring in vehicles and heavy equipment. That is not the case in West Milford.

"Here, when we get in the Highlands in the northern part of the state, it's obviously very different terrain," Cecil said Thursday. "We've got very steep conditions; we've got to work by hand in many instances. We can use some heavy equipment, but it's certainly a lot more challenging."

Officials said firefighters were having difficulty reaching the northern part of the fire because of the mountainous topography.

"It's going to be really difficult to go in there safely," state Assistant Division Fire Warden Eric Weber said. "Right now, our air tanker, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service's, is dropping water on that."

The Kanouse fire is the first in that location since 2009, Weber said, and is the biggest in the northern part of the state since 2010.

NJ weather Warm stretch in North Jersey could approach record-setting April temperatures

Cecil said that in both the Manchester and Kanouse fires, "extreme fire conditions" have been seen. But in Manchester, the fire climbed up into the canopies of the trees, which has not been seen in Kanouse.

Temperatures this week have approached record highs, adding to the difficulties for firefighters across the state. McLaughlin said a Sussex firefighter died after going into cardiac arrest Wednesday, having responded to two calls earlier in the day. His death was not related to the Kanouse Wildfire.

"That was a tragedy we want to acknowledge," McLaughlin said. "These things unfortunately happen. This is very stressful work. It's very tiring. We've had some warm weather with some long days."

In order to make sure firefighter are not being overworked in the midst of these conditions, McLaughlin said, they have an eight- to 10-hour work-to-rest ratio in place. The state has also been sending firefighters from South Jersey up north to help, and vice versa.

"We're also relying on our volunteer fire companies to give us support as well, our local police, EMS," McLaughlin said. "Without those folks ... we really wouldn't be able to do what we're doing."

Staff Writer Nicholas Katzban contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: West Milford NJ wildfire burning, firefighters remain on scene